A RELATIVE of hero Birmingham policeman Ryan Hunt will saddle-up for a marathon fund-raising ride to pay for a memorial to every police officer killed in the line of duty.

Detective Andy Bradley and 44 other biking bobbies will this weekend ride from London to Lichfield in honour of their fallen colleagues.

The intrepid riders are looking to raise thousands of pounds to build a permanent roll of honour to the 4,000 officers killed while serving the public.

At the moment, the only memorial to gallant police heroes is found on the corner of The Mall and Horse Guards Parade in London, but that contains just 1,600 names of those who died.

But the UKCops organisation, set up to help families of fallen officers, want to recognise every single individual in Alrewas, near Lichfield.

The bike ride will be a poignant one for organiser Det Sgt Bradley, from Sutton Coldfield CID.

His brother-in-law Ryan Hunt, from Walsall, was killed in a crash while on an undercover drugs bust in Doncaster, South Yorks, in May last year.

Det Sgt Bradley, aged 38, said: "This is an issue that is close to my heart. Ryan was a brilliant officer who was doing something he loved. He was highly decorated for the work he did.

"Thirteen months on, it's still very difficult to believe that he's not here. He was a larger-than-life character and a genuinely nice guy.

"The bike ride is a fine way to remember him and colleagues who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and help build a fitting tribute to them."

The 45-strong team, made up of police officers, civilian staff and retired bobbies, will set off on Saturday morning.

They hope to end the 130 mile-cycle in Alrewas at the Police Memorial on Sunday fortheir annual memorial weekend. They hope to raise more than #5,000.

In recent years, West Midlands Police has seen the loss of a number of officers in the line of duty.

Among them were Sutton Coldfield-based motorcycle officer Malcolm Walker who died in October 2001; Det Con Robert Ling, killed in a road crash in South Africa and Det Con Mick Swindells, who was stabbed to death in May 2004 in Aston.